“Derek, please be alright. Stay alright…” I whispered, hoping the morning breeze would carry the message back to The Shade and let him know I was still thinking of him.

“Why all the whispering?”

Ben looked at ease and relaxed for the first time since we discovered each other back at The Shade. Still, even with the lighter tone, every word he spoke came with a heaviness I couldn’t completely shake. He plopped himself down next to me.

“Where do you think we are?” he asked.

“We’re in Cancun.” I had no doubt about it. “It makes sense for them to return us where they found us.”

Le Meridien. That was the resort we were staying at when we got abducted by the vampires. The Hudsons were able to afford the long-awaited vacation because of the substantial sum of money my father sent to support me. The last time I saw him was when he left me under the care of his best friend – Ben’s father, Lyle Hudson. That was eight years ago. The only clue I had that he was still alive somewhere was the quarterly check he sent the Hudsons to continue caring for me. The check wasn’t even sent in my name, almost like a taunt – a painful reminder that my own father had willfully forgotten my name.

Memories of our vacation spent on the sugary Mediterranean beaches of Mexico felt like they happened a lifetime ago – to a different version of myself. The jealousy I felt over Ben dating the gorgeous blonde, Tanya Wilson, seemed frivolous and shallow. Even my bitterness toward my parents seemed to matter less in light of what I’d been through.

I looked at Ben, remembering a time when I practically worshipped the ground he walked on. My hot and popular quarterback best friend, with his charming smile and sun-kissed skin … The young man sitting next to me was nothing like that.

“What do we do now?” I asked.

We were so bent on escaping The Shade, we never actually thought about what we would do once we got out. It took at least half a minute before Ben eventually responded with a shrug.

“For now, I don’t think there’s anything left to do other than go home.”

“Right,” I nodded, wondering to myself exactly where home was. The idea of going back to suburban California, back to the Hudsons’ family home, made me sick to my stomach. That place never felt like home to me. “But I don’t think I’m ready to go back just yet, Ben.”

I was relieved when he nodded and said, “I feel the same.”

A comfortable silence followed, both of us focusing on the sun and its slow, steady rise. The view was magnificent, but it wasn’t enough of a distraction to ease all the conflicting thoughts roaming around in my head.

“Perhaps we should stay here for a day or two, gather our wits about us …” Ben suggested, “Then we can go home.”

“Sounds okay to me.”

I then paid more attention to what I was wearing. The bikini and the cover-up was the exact same outfit I had been wearing when Lucas took me from the beach and brought me to The Shade. I checked out what Ben was wearing – a black vest and red board shorts. I wondered if that was what he had on when he was taken from the beach. Did they return us here with nothing but the clothes on our backs?

As if he was reading my mind, a grin formed on Ben’s face. “Relax,” he said, but then a grim expression quickly replaced his smile. “They didn’t leave us empty-handed.” He nodded toward a spot further down the beach.

I followed his gaze and was able to make out a black backpack on the sand. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was bewildered by the scowl on Ben’s face. Why do you seem so ticked off? You should be happy they didn’t send us here empty-handed.

“Have you seen what’s in it?”

He shook his head. “I’m not exactly excited to find out what I now owe them.”

You and your ego. It was just like Ben to be too proud to accept help from anybody. Although, of course, the fact that this help was coming from the vampires who put him through hell made the whole thing much worse. The horrors he went through at The Shade constantly loomed over him… over us.

“Let’s just see what we have to work with.” I quickly walked over to the backpack, more concerned about our current predicament than any broken pride I might have over accepting help from the vampires.

I already reached the pack when I realized that Ben didn’t even bother to follow me. I knelt on the ground and checked the bag’s contents. There were only a few items: two sets of clothes – one for Ben, one for me – a large wad of cash and a sealed envelope with my name on it. Satisfied that we had enough to get by, I closed the bag and slung it over my shoulder before heading back to Ben.

“So?” he asked.

“We have clothes and probably enough cash to get us on a first class flight from Mexico to… I don’t know… India? Round trip. Twice.”

I was expecting him to at least be somewhat relieved, but no… All he did was scoff at the generous sum we’d been given.

“They throw us their scraps and expect us to be grateful for them. That’s nowhere near enough considering what they put us through.”

I knew he was right and I wanted to be on his side, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to hate The Shade as much as he did. At that point, I didn’t dare ask myself why.

“So that’s all there is?” Ben asked, glaring at the backpack as though it contained deadly venom.

I thought about the envelope addressed to me. Then I nodded.

“Yeah. That’s it.”

A tense moment ensued before he kicked the sand beneath his feet and said through gritted teeth, “Fine. Let’s go and indulge ourselves, using the oh-so-generous fortune they sent us.”

As he headed off toward the luxurious resorts that lined the white sandy beaches, I lingered behind long enough to look back at the ocean and whisper, “Thank you, Derek.”

CHAPTER 5: DEREK

Focus, Derek. Ignore everything.

I stood still and upright, my feet shoulder-width apart. My left hand kept a relaxed grip on my silver bow’s handle. I retrieved an arrow from the quiver slung across my bare back.

Drown everything out. All that matters now is that you hit the target.

Beads of sweat were trickling down my temples. I’d been at this all night. I started with boxing before moving on to sword practice, then firearms practice, and eventually every other training the Crimson Fortress’ grounds had to offer until I reached the archery range.

From the corner of my eye, I could make out the thick walls of the Crimson Fortress towering at least a hundred feet above me. They surrounded the island, protecting us from everyone who sought to invade us throughout the past centuries. The mere thought of the towering fortress and all its fortifications threatened to bring back a slew of dark memories that I’d long wanted to forget. I cleared my throat and refocused.

Shut it out. Don’t let the past haunt you. Not now.

I shut my eyes as I nocked the arrow and positioned its shaft onto the arrow rest. I took a deep breath.

Let your instincts take over.

I positioned the weapon to hit the target that I couldn’t even see. Using my back muscles, I pulled my right elbow backwards until my right hand was placed firmly against my jaw. I held my stance for a few seconds, trusting my instincts to aim right.

Then came the release. The arrow pierced through the cold night air and I heard a loud thud. Before I could even open my eyes to check if I’d actually hit my mark, I heard something that took me aback. From behind me came the sound of applause.

I opened my eyes and saw the arrow had indeed hit the bull’s eye, cutting right through the first two arrows I shot before it. I longed for the sense of satisfaction that came with a shot like that. Nothing. It only served as a cruel reminder that most of what I knew about combat, I had learned from hunters – back when I was one of them, the time before I became the Lord of vampires and Prince of The Shade.

“Well done, your highness,” the familiar voice of Cameron Hendry, with his thick Scottish accent, boomed through the training grounds. “It seems four hundred years of being the Sleeping Beauty has not dulled your fighting skills one bit.”

I tensed. The last thing I wanted now was company and it seemed I had an entire flank of soldiers surrounding me. I tried to relax as I faced my good friend. Cameron and his wife, Liana, were two of The Shade’s fiercest warriors and had both fought and bled with me many times in the battlefield. The Hendry clan represented one of the few clans among the Elite that I trusted with my life.

“Hendry.” I nodded his way. “Up and about so early?”

“Early?” he scoffed, his red hair messed up and tousled as if he had just tumbled out of bed. “If The Shade had sun, it’d be midday. Yuri says you’ve been using every single weapon we have available to murder some unknown force for the past eighteen hours. What or whom are you planning to kill, Derek?”

“Midday, huh?” I asked, quick to change the subject. “Since when do we start training troops at midday?”

“Truth be told, we haven’t trained much since the war ended and you went off to sleep.” The large man, only twenty-eight years old when he was turned, threw his arms up in the air with a shrug. “There hasn’t been a major attack on The Shade since your witch friend, Cora, kept it hidden with her curse.”

My jaw tightened. “That has to change. We won’t be safe for long. We can’t afford to have untrained troops. Our adversaries are innovating their weapons, developing their skills, while we sit here, lazy and lounging around like there won’t ever be a tomorrow.”

Concern sparked in Cameron’s brown eyes. He stepped forward and spoke in a low tone – just loud enough for only me to hear.

“What’s going on, Derek?”

“I remain Commander-in-Chief of The Shade’s military force. Am I correct?”

“Of course,” he nodded.

“Well, as of this day, the initiative starts. Within the next couple of weeks, I expect every single vampire living on this God-forsaken island to be drafted for duty.” If I weren’t in such a sour mood, I would’ve been unable to keep myself from letting out a large guffaw at the way Cameron’s face contorted with shock. But I was dead serious. I stood to my full height, summoning all the power I knew I had over every single citizen of The Shade. “That’s what’s going on, Cameron.” I looked at all the men listening in on our conversation. They were a sorry bunch to look at; weak and withered by time. “Does anyone dare object?”